Interview by Cristina Gregori
Melodic doomsters Red Moon Architect will release their 5th album “Emptiness Weighs The Most” on October 23rd via Noble Demon. The band from Kouvola is known to create a unique sound, strong melodies, dark growls and beautiful female vocals, crawling directly under your skin. We had a chat with Anni Viljanen about the band and this upcoming album.
Hey Anni, welcome to Femme Metal Webzine! How are you doing?
I’m fine and thanks for inviting me!
Your 5th album, “Emptiness Weighs The Most”, will be released on October 23rd via Noble Demon, what can you us tell about it? And what are the main differences compared to the previous ones?
I am very excited for the release of this album. This is a special album for me because last winter I had the chance to take 3 weeks off from work and Helsinki and go with my husband to Lapland.
I composed most of the arrangements there and I think this experience influeced me a lot. On this album, I have more singing part than on previous albums and, even if it’s doom metal, it’s a bit faster or maybe there’s just a more melodic feeling.
Instead, what about the lyrics?
Saku wrote most of the lyrics, but it is all about melancholic mindset. When I received the lyrics, I was surprised to find a love song, then I realized the song isn’t about love instead, it’s about the agony of letting go of your dark side.
If compared to my lyrics which are present in our third album “Return of the Black Butterflies”, they perhaps more straightforward. Let’s take, “NDE” which is a combination of a couple of stories I heard and experienced when working as a paramedic and then “Tormented” which is about the circulation of hatred that we all carry.
“Rise” and “Chained” are the two first singles released; I feel like to define the sound as intense, and I love it, should we expect the same for the whole album?
This album is a good in all its entirety. I must say these two songs represent well the upcoming album and its sound.
Red Moon Architect has been active almost 10 years by now, how do you think the band has changed in a musical way?
First of all, the line-up has changed over the years, even if it started as Saku‘s solo project only, after releasing the first album, Red Mood Architect became a band and we started working on the songs together. Saku is the lead songwriter, but we all have the opportunity to take part in the writing process.
However on this album, there is a song written by Taneli and Saku together. Each member when joining a band brings something in the band’s sound. Nowadays we have two guitarists, a little more tempo and more singing parts on which I’m featured.
You joined the band back in 2013, how did you join into the band? And, which is the best memory so far?
Actually, I also participated on the first album. Saku and I were classmates and he told me about a song that should have ended up in the garbage, he asked me to do something about it. I did the arrangements and Saku loved the final outcome which resulted in “Realm” that’s the last song on the debut.
Jukka and I have been part of this project since 2011, but only in 2013 Red Moon Architect officially became a band instead of Saku‘s solo project.
The best memory is our first and last European concert in Belgium, it was a great experience even if Saku couldn’t be present. Another thing I love is the process of creating the songs, arranging my part, then sending it to Saku and lastly, getting feedback.
For the moment you have two upcoming gigs in support to Swedish band October Tide, how do you feel about it? And are more gigs coming?
For now we have just these two concerts, and hopefully when the pandemic will be over, we also would like to tour in Europe. Before this pandemic started, we played a 2 weekend mini tour with Insomnium in Finland which was an experience to remember.
If you could choose one band to tour with, which one would be?
Maybe that’s a boring answer, but I’d choose Swallow the Sun. Another band I’d like to tour with is Jinjer, but maybe our musical style is too much distant from theirs.
Talking about music in general, what are your main influences?
This is a tough question. In my childhood I listened to Finnish pop music and not so much heavy music. Well, Jenni Vartiainen and Billie Eilish come to mind, they both have that kind of whispering sound. Actually, I know I don’t sound like them but I got inspired for some songs on our latest album.
We are almost at the end of the interview, thank you for your time! Would you like to say something to our readers?
I would like to thank everybody to being interested in this interview and I hope you enjoy our upcoming album.
